Tile machine



May 4,1 926. 4 1,583,698

D. MQINTYRE TILE MACHINE Filed March 9, 1922 v Sheets-Sheet 1 MMW Gaming D. M INTYRE TILE MACHINE May 4 1926.

Filed March 9, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 mnta'z & y J6 W YIIIII-ib S Gamma D.MMNTYRE TILE. MACHINE May '4 1926.

Filed March 9.

1922 7 sheets-Shea; 4

May 4 1926.

D. MCINTYRE TILE MACHINE 1922 7' Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 9.

May 4 1926.

D. M INTYRE TILE. MACHINE I Filed March 9, 1922 v ShQets-Sheet v' Patented Ma 4, 1926.

" UNITEDT STATESQPATENT lorries.

DAVID MoINTYBE, OI ISZTBOIT, MICHIGAN.

, rm momma i Application filed March 9, 1522. Serial No. 542,238.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID MoIN'rYRE, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State] 5 of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Tile Machine,of which the follow-.

ing is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for the molding of building tiles from plastic material, and its object is to produce a machine of this character which operates continuously to carry a predetermined amount of,

plastic material to the mold, camp the plastic mass and then eject the finished tiles. A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the operation of the machine can be manually interrupted so as to prevent damage should the operators fail to supply the necessary plastic material or the proper pallets to support the tiles.

This invention consists in the details of construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawin s, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the right side of t e machine. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the left side of the machine. Fig. 3 is a front elevationof-the machine. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof one of the secondary tampers. Figure 3 is a section on the line 3"-3 of Fi 3. Fig. 3 is a section showing the metho of securing the cores'in. position. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section of the machine. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail of an unlocking device for the pallet lifting mechanism. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of this lock on a plane parallel to that of F1 6. Fig. 8 is a hori- 40 zontal section throughthe brackets for lift ing the tampers on the line 8-8 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 9 is a detail of the mechanism for con trollin the tempers. Fig. 10 is a perspective 0% a pallet showing the bottom side tamper lifting mechanism and the controlling device therefor. .Fig. 12 is a vertical section through the supporting device for the W feedbox, Fig. 13 is a plan of the mold box perspective of thelower end of one of the main tampers. Fig. 15 is'a longitudinal thereof. Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail of the "with the cover'plate removed. Fig. 14 is a tion through one of the molds and through the pallet therein showing a pallet supporting bar. Figs. 16 and 17 are sections on the lines 1616 and 1717'of Fig. 3, showing an adjustable guide for the tamper bars.

Similar reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the present machine previously-mixed plastic material adapted to form build-ing tiles is conveyed by a chute to the machine and at intervals this material-isdischarged into a feed box which is longitudinally movable from below the chute 'to above the'mold .or molds, it being understood that while the drawings show three molds for building tiles, the number and size of these molds may be varied as desired. The machine further embodies a tamping mechanism for ramming the plastic material into the molds after the feed box has carried a proper amount of material to the molds, and mechanism for elevatin the pallets which form the bottoms of t e molds after the plastic ma.- terial has been properly tamped so that the pallets with the finished tiles thereon may be removed from the machine and replaced by others. It also embodies driving mechanism which is so connected and co-ordinated that the various steps necessary to the operation of the machine follow each other automatically, so that the only manual labor necessary is the removal of the pallets with the tiles thereon and the substitution therefor of new pallets. I prefer to so elevate the allots above themold box that a board may slipped under the pallets and they with the tiles thereon carried away.

The frame of the machine shown in the drawings consists of u right posts 1 and 2.

horizonta channel bars 3 and ets the front frames 6v which constitute the mold supports are connected. Extending upwardly from the rear ends of the front frames 6 and from the brackets 5 on the side frames 4 are upright frames 7 to which the upperplates 8 are connected. As shown in Fig. 11, these plates 8 extend rearwardly to constitute bearings for the main shaft 9.

On this shaft 9 is a pulley 10 which rev- I ceives the main'driving belt 11. .The shaft a'very slight amount of looseness permits the tamper bars to turn and this results very often in the descending tamper head strikin the sides of the mold and thereby not on y losing the efl'ect of the tamper but also injuring the parts of the machine. In the present case, .two tamper bars 18 are provided for each tamper, which gives an extended bearing and permits of accurate adjustment so that the plastic material may be compacted adjacent the walls of the mold,

where in many cases the finished tiles are left in a spongy condition.

The upper ends ofthe bars 18 of each pair are connected by means of a small I cross bar 19 as indicated in Fig. 3. The rollers 16 on the arms 15 engage the lower sides of the brackets 17 which are attached to the bars 18, as shown in Fig. 8. The bars 18 of each pair are formed with notches'to receive a key 20.which is carried in a slot 21 in the bracket 17, as indicated in Fig. 3. Bolts 23 extend through this key 20, through the brackets 17, and through the cap 24 so that each bracket 17 is rigidly secured to its respective pair of bars 18. Extending up ward from the plates 8011 the upright frames .7 are two side bars 26 which carry guide members and which are secured at their lower ends to the upright bars 7 as shown in Fig. 3. These guiding members consist of plates 27, extending across between the upper ends of the uprights 26 and these plates carry of the bolts 29 and. the adjusting screws 30. As indicated in Fig. 2, there is one of these guiding plates27 at the front and one at the rear of the lines of tamper bars 18 so that the entire group of bars can be properly adjusted relative. to the mold. A second set of plates 27,- similar to the first, is attached to the upright frames 7 just below the plates 8 and these carry a second setof guides. The sets of guides accurately control the positions of these tampers at all points of their strokes.

Extending across between the plates 8 in front of the side frames 7 is a shaft 32 on which a series of dogs 33 arepivoted. The upper ends of these dogs are tensioned toward the lifting brackets 17 by means of the springs 34 which are mounted between bars 35 ca ied y he p es 8.: T119 hm the guide'members 28 by means and springs are omitted in Fig. 2 for the sake of clearness. The shaft 32 is supported 'in slidable plates 36 (Fig. 2) which are adjustable by means of the screws 37 mounted in the lugs 38 on the side plates 8. As the tamper bars together with the parts attached thereto have considerable momentum, the brackets 17 move somewhat above the paths of the roller 16 so that when the dogs 33 swing into engagement below the lower outer corners of the brackets 17 as indicated in Fig. 11, the rollers 16 will not again con.- tact with the brackets 17 until the dogs have been released. This eliminates much objectionable noise. As this excess of movement, however, is slight, it is desirable to have the dogs 33 adjustable so as to take up any wear which may occur between the dogs and the brackets.

Mounted in the plates 8 and extending across the lower ends of the dogs 33 is a shaft 40 which has mounted on it a series of cams 41, one for each dog 33, and adapted toswing the upper ends of these dogs out of the-paths of the brackets 17. These cams are so positioned on the shaft 40 that the tampers will come into action in a predetermined order so that the plastic material in the mold will be properly compacted. This order will be explained later on when the iforms of the tampers are discussed.

Extending across the tops of the front frames 6 are two bars 45 on which the cores 46 are secured and on which the pallets are placed while the building tiles are being molded. The cores are preferabl secured to the bars 45 by means of the b0 ts 47 and springs 48, as indicated in Fig. 3. These pallets consist of end bars 48, side bars 49 and intermediate bars 50. As indicated in Figs. 4 and 13, the cores 46 are in pairs so that the tile will be molded with a central wall connected to the side walls by bridge pieces which are formed by the concrete rammed into the transverse notches 52 in the cores. The cross bars 45fwhich support of the machine is a vertical guide bar 55,

referably round, on which a cross head 56 1s slidable, and extending betweenthese cross heads are cross bars 57 which support the pallet lifters 58 whose upper ends are forked as shown in Fig. '3, 'so as to constitute proper supports for; the end bars 48 of the pallets. These pallets are within the spaces'between the sides of the mold and the cores, but when these cross heads'56 are elevated the carriers 58 lift the pallets and the molded tiles there-' on up abcve the mold and thee-tires the'reia' so that the molded tiles may be carried away. I prefer that thev shall be raised sufliciently high to permit a board to be slipped between the pallets and thecores so that the pallets and tiles can be carried away thereon. cross bar 59 connects the two front frames 6. The mold is formed of four stationary upright plates referably in the form of channels. The side plates 60 are rigidly atthe feed box is sli tached to the upper bars 3 of the frame and the front 61 and back 62 are rigidly secured to these side plates 60. As shown in Fig. 13, two dividing plates 63 are rigidly attached to the front plate 61 and backplate 62. Extending above thesides of the mold is a thin sup orting plate 64 on which iable, this feed box being formed of a front member 65, rear member 66, as shown in Fig. '4, and two side members 67, as shown in Fig. 12. Attached to the side members 67 of the feed box are two brackets 68 which extend down-and then into contact with these rollers and their j journals. An angle bar 74 may be attached to the tops of the side and front channels which constitute the feed box for the purpose of preventing the plastic material from becoming lost. I

The chutev 75 which conveys the plastic material to the feed box may be supported by means of bars 76 which are attached at their front ends to the upright 7 and at their rear ends to the bearings 77 of the shaft 78. As shown in Fig. 4, a plate 79 extends across between the side channels 67 I balanced by means of a weight 100 attached back of the rear channel 66 of the feed box so as to close the bottom of the chute when the feed box is moved forward. It

may be stated that the feed box is made of such size that the plastic material which comes down the chute and fills this feed box will properly. fill the molds just described when thoroughly tamped. In case there is any excess of plastic material, it will be pulled back onto the plate 64 when the feed box is withdrawn.

' Attached to the right end of the shaft 78 is a sprocket wheel 81 which connects to the .-main countershaft 14 by means of a sprocket chain 82. This sprocket chain maybe kept at the proper tension bymeans of an adjustable idler 83 which may be mounted in any well known manner. The shaft 78 has a crank 84 on its left hand end which is provided with a pin 85 as shown in Fig.2 and the sprocket wheel with a pin 86 as shown in Fig. 1. Connecting rods-87 extendfrom up against the rear channel or side 66 o the the channels 99 to which the cross bars; 57

these pins 85 and 86 to pins 88 carried by brackets 68, as shown in Fig. 12, and bythese means the feed box is moved back and forth relative to the mold. d c e Pivoted to each bracket 68 on the feed box is an arm 90 which carries a pin 91 7'0 and roller 92'on its rear end, which roller bearsagainst the upper flange of the side bar 3 of the machine and prevents the feed box'from moving up away from the plate 64. This insures not only proper movement of the feed box but accurate measurement of the plastic material. As the plastic material in the feed box is pushed forward to its proper position over the mold, it will ack feed box and will therefore be most dense over the rear portions of the mold. In order to equalize the density of the plastic material in the feed box, I cause the shaft 78 to turn sufliciently to move the feed box back a short distance, say an inch or so, and thereby partially compact the plastic material which is against the front plate 65 of the mold box. The effect of this is a substantially even density of the plastic material in the mold after it is tamped.

Figs. 1 and 2 show the crank 84 and the sprocket wheel 81 when turned 180 degrees from the tamping position, but these figures clearly show the lead of the crank pins. The mechanism for raising and lowering the pallets is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. A shaft 190 extends across between the rear posts 1 and on it is mounted a lever 192 provided with an opening 93 to receive a cam 94 on the shaft 95. The front end of this lever 192 is forked to produce the two arms 96 which carry a shaft 97 whose ends extend into wheels 98 that are slidable in are attached. This lever 192 may be counterto the cable 101 which runs over the small pulleys 102 attached to the main frame of the machine. I

Experience has shown that a speed of 66 R. P. M. is proper for the shafts 9 and 14; 22 R. P. M. for the shaft 95; and 2 2/5 R. P. M. for the control shaft 104. These shafts run constantly but the shaft 78 makes half revolutions intermittently. The shaft, 104 makes one revolution for each cycle of the .machine. The shaft 95' is driven from the shaft 14 by means -of sprocket wheels 106 and 107-and a sprocket chain 108 .bel tween them. The shaft 104 is driven by. the shaft 95 through the gears shown in1 Figs. 2 and5. A pinion 109 is attached to" the shaft 95 and meshes with a gear 110 on the short shaft 111 mounted .in the plate 4 extending between the upright posts 1 and 2 on the left side of the machine. .On-this shaft 111 and connected to the gear 110 is I a pinion 112 which meshes with a gear 113 on the shaft 104. The reduction is nearly 10 to 1 as above stated- Mounted on the shaft 104 is a. disk 114 which has cam pins 115 and 116 extending from its right side, there being two of each of these pins, the pins 115 being opposite each other and thepins 116 being substantially ninety degrees apart. The disk 114 is formedwith concentric ringsof holes so that these pins may be given any desired location, On the shaft 14 isa sprocket wheel 117 which receives the chain 82 that drives the shaft 78 and this sprocket wheel is attached to a clutch member 118 and a conical brake member 119 adapted to cooperate with the stationary brake member 120 rigid with the side frame of the machine. These parts 117, 118 and 119 are loose on the shaft'l4 and may he slid along the shaft by means of the lever 122 which is.

pivoted at 123 on a bracket 124. extending from the side of the machine. Attached to the outer end of the shaft 14 is a second clutch member 125 with which the clutch member 118 is adapted to engage.

Connected to the lever 122 is a transversely slidable bar 126 which is normally ulled toward the disk 114 by a spring 12 When the inner end of this bar 126 is engaged by a cam pin. 115, the bar is forced out against the tension of the spring 127 and the clutch members 118 and 125 engage, thus causing .the rotation of the shaft 78 and movement of the feed box in one direction. -When the bar 126 has been forced outward ent case, the rod 132 is adjustably connected to the link 134 by means of a turn-buckle 135, and this link 134 connects to a small lever 136 mounted on a pin 137 at the rear end of the machine, as shown in Fig. 1. The sprocket wheel 81 carries two ins 138 adapted to engage the lever 136 an ull the pin 132 out of engagement with the ar 126 when this sprocket wheel has made Jone-half rotation, which permits the spring 127 todisengage the clutch members. Immediately thereafter the spring 127 forces the brake members 119 and 12Q 1nto engagement and stops the shaft 78.- It will be noticed that the speed of the shaft 14 is very much greater than that of the shaft 104' so that thetime occupied in movingthe feed box incone direction or -'the other .is only a fraction of the cycle of .the machine.

The control of the lifting lever 192 is similar to that of the feed box mechanism,

which is adapted to be moved longitudinally by one or the other of the .cam pins 116 carried by the disk 114 to-cause the clutch members 139 and 140 to engage. When this bar 146 has been 'moved outwardly by a cam pin 116, the clutch members 139 and 140 engage and the cam. 94 begins to turn with the shaft 95. When this cam 94 has made a one-half rotation and elevated the pallet lifters, a pin 148 on a collar 149 shown in Fig. 6 engages the trip lever 150. This collar is mounted on the clutch member 139 and turns with the cam 94, and the trip lever is mounted on a pivot 151 carried by a plate 152 supported by a frame bar 153 (Fig. 5) that extends from the cross bar 155 of the frame to an end bar 156.

A link 154 is attached to the upper end of this, trip lever and connects to the locking bolt 157 which engages the bar 146 inthe manner shown in Fig.6 Whenever a pin 148 strikes the lower end of the, trip lever, the locking bolt 157 is withdrawn and the bar 146 released, permiltting the spring 145 to disengage the clutch. The inner end of the control bar 146 is slidably supported by a second frame bar 158 similar to the frame I bar 153. The pallet lifter will therefore be in its elevated position. for one-fourth of the cycle of the machine during which time the finished tiles may be removed and fresh pallets substituted.

' The operation of the tampers is also controlled by the shaft 104. The tampers are supported b the dogs 33 as above described and; these ogs are moved to inoperative position by the cams 41 on the shaft 40. On the right end of this shaft is a crank arm 160 .to which a'rod. 161 is pivoted. This rod has a yoke 162 at its lower end which slides on a hub 163 of a cam 164 on the right hand end of the shaft 104. This yoke is adjustable on the rod 161 by means of nuts .165, as shown in Fig. 9. A roller 166 on the pin 167 at the lower endofthis yoke is engaged byv the cam-164 to pull down .the arm 160, and this cam has-two 'steps .168;and 169,-

the first of which causes the shaft 40 to turn:

*sufliciently torelease the main tampers and the second to-cause the release of the secondary. tam rs. The cams 41 areswungto inoperative position by means of the spring 170.

The tilesito be formed on this machine each co nsist of side, end and partition walls,

I the side and partition walls being connected This main tamper is first released by thepropercam 41 and operates to compact the plastic material between the cores and between the cores and the sides of the mold, After a few operations of the main tampers,

' the secondary tampers are released. These are shown in Fig. 3 and they are so posihas tioned that they compact the plastic material alongtheouter sides of the cores. The operation of. the main tam ers continues through about one-fourth o the cycle of the machine while the secondary tampers 177 operate for about one-half of that time.

The mold may be changed as'desired to produce tiles of different shapes and sizes. Where thelengt-h of the tiles is reduced be low the longitudinal distance between the outer faces of'the pallet lifters 58, the bolts.

17 5 which secure the feet 176 of these lifters to the bars 57 may be removed and the lifters turned half way around. As these lifters are offset on their feet, as shown in Fig. 3", the over-all dimensions may be materially altered by this change.

The operation of the machine is controlled by a clutch member 180 slidable on the shaft 14, but rotatable therewith. The sprocket wheel 22 has a clutch member 181 adapted to engage the slidabl clutch member which is movable by means of the bar 182. A. shaft 183 extends from the front of the machine where it has a lever 184 at its front end, to the bar 182 where it has an upwardly extending arm 185 whose upper end extends into the'slot 186 in the bar 182. The workmen at the front of the machine can therefore stop the main countershaft. A spring 187 normally holds the clutch 180 in. engagement.

The details of construction and the sizes and proportions of the various arts may .all be changed by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim 1. In a tile machine, the combination of a rigid tile mold, a plate mounted on the mold and extending rearwardly and-having openings to permit the passage of plastic material, a feed-box slidable onsaid plate, a chute for plastic material extending downwardly to said plate andspaced therefrom sufliciently to permit the feed box to move underneath the lower end of the chute to be filled and to move forwardly over the mold to discharge its contents, and a plate extending rearwardly from the feed box to upper surfaces on which said pallets close the lower end of the chute when the feed box is in its forward position.

2. In a tile machine, the combination of a tile mold, a feed box adapted to convey a proper amount of plastic material to the mold, a chute to fill the feed box, a shaft mounted in the machine, cranks mounted on said shaft, connecting rods extending from the cranks to said feed box, and means to turn the shaft through one-half rotation to move the feed box to position over the'mold, said means causing the feed box to begin its return movement before it comes to rest over the mold so as to compact the plastic material atthe front end thereof.

3. In a tile machine, the combination of a mold, means to convey a proper amount .of plastic material to the mold to form a tile, and tampers to compact the plastic material, one of said tampers being formed of side, partition and end walls and the other tampers of the set being formed with cross heads'adapted to compact the material within the space enclosed by said walls of the first named tamper.

4. In a tile machine, the combination of a mold, a pallet adapted to be placed in the bottom of the mold, a lever to elevate said pallet, a shaft and a cam loose thereon adapted to elevate said lever, means to drive said shaft, a control shaft, a clutch to connect the cam to the shaft on which it is mounted, and means on said control shaft to cause the operative engagement of said clutch.

5. In a tile machine, the combination of a mold, a pallet adapted to be placed in the bottom of the mold, a lever to elevate said-pallet, a shaft and a cam loose thereon adapted to elevate said lever, means to drive said shaft, a control shaft, a clutch to connect the cam to the shaft on which it is mounted, means on said control shaft to cause the operative engagement of said clutch, and means on said cam-shaft to cause the clutch to disengage.

6. In. a tile machine, the combination of a mold, feed box adapted to carry a proper amount of plastic material and tampers for compacting the plastic material, each of said tampers comprising a pair of vertical hare and a tamping head at the lower end of said bars,and adjustable means mounted on said machine and spaced apart vertically and movable horizontally to guide said tamper bars.

' 7 In a tile machine, the combination of a mold, cores for said mold, cross bar: mounted in said machine adapted to sup port'said cores, and pallets adapted to he placed within the mold to receiv'e the plasi it. material, said cross bars having rounded may rest.

8. In a tile machine, the combination of a mold, cross bars beneath the mold, pallets adapted to be placedv on the cross bars in. the bottom of the mold, vertical guides ad -jacent said mold, a framevertically slidable on said guides, forked pallet lifters attached to said frame and adapted to move the pellets vertically up and out of the mold, a, lever pivoted in said machine, means to raise and; lower said. lever, a horizontal shaft mounted in the front end of said lever, and rollers on theends ofsaid shaft adapted to engage said frame to raise and lower the same.

DAVID MoINTYRE. 

